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A 'scentsational' California crop

For many sports fans, seeing a game just isn't the same without garlic fries.

To many Americans this time of year means one thing: baseball. It’s that magical time of high expectations when it seems like every team has a shot at greatness. And of course, nothing says baseball at the ballpark like the great American hot dog. At AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants they are famous for what else, but their “Giant dog.” More than one million franks were dished out here last year—but the hot dogs are just an appetizer for the rest of the food here. Win or lose on the field, fans are always entertained by the food here. And there’s no mistaking this is true California Cuisine on display. Ghirardelli chocolate, San Francisco sourdough bread bowls, barbecue , veggie kabobs, Asian stir fry, even sushi and Edamame—it’s all here for sports fans of every age to enjoy.

With it’s own farmers market on site, this obviously isn’t your average stadium food, and with endless options to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters, it’s hard to imagine agreeing on what’s best to indulge in. But when you come to AT&T Park, there is one item that just about everybody has to have….

“Other than hot dogs and beer, garlic fries are by far the number one item,” said Sandie Filipiak of the San Francisco Giants.

Always a fan favorite despite having enough garlic to frighten even Dracula, garlic fries are a real crowd pleaser. Almost 400,000 servings of the finger-licking-good fries were dished out last year—proving that people can’t get enough of one of the Bay Area’s most potent and famous crops.

When you’re talking about growing garlic in Northern California, there’s no better place to come than here to Christopher Ranch.

Well known at Giants games for adding punch to those famous fries, Christopher Ranch is also known around the country for being the name in garlic. Shipping over 60 million pounds of fresh, California garlic each year, the farm is the United States’ largest producer of the herb. And from the famous Gilroy garlic festival to restaurants and stadiums across the country, this homegrown stinking rose is finding fans wherever it’s eaten.

“My father started the operation in 1956 and today we’re the second largest employer in Santa Clara County. And it feels good to keep people employed and to keep California growing,” Bill Christopher said.

And growing is something this California icon keeps doing, the golden state is number one in both the number of farms growing garlic and in harvested acres—meaning as long as the Giants keep hitting it out of the park, Christopher Ranch will keep trying to make fans stay in the park with their one and only stinking rose.